Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25: Arshdeep, Prabhsimran set up Punjab’s dominant win against Mumbai
Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25: Arshdeep, Prabhsimran set up Punjab’s dominant win against Mumbai
A five-wicket haul from Arshdeep Singh and an attacking unbeaten hundred from opener Prabhsimran Singh helped Punjab earn a facile win over Mumbai in a Group C Vijay Hazare Trophy encounter in Ahmedabad.
Chasing a modest 249-run target, Prabhsimran (150 n.o., 101b, 14×4, 10×6) and skipper Abhishek Sharma (66, 54b, 4×4, 5×6) made full use of the flat wicket at the ADSA Railway Stadium to give Punjab the perfect start to its chase.
Mumbai was guilty of going defensive early, bowling wide outside off with a packed offside field, only for Abhishek to find boundaries at will with cut shots. From the other end, Prabhsimran punished anything full by lofting it down the ground. The 24-year-old right-hander continued his attacking shots against the spin, often playing the paddle sweep to throw Mumbai bowlers off their length.
Abhishek played the steadier innings of the two but clicked up a gear after completing his fifty. He targetted the left-arm spin of Atharva Ankolekar, slog-sweeping him over mid-wicket for maximums. The southpaw eventually fell trying to loft Ayush Mhatre over long on but his opening partner continued the charge, getting to his century off 85 balls.
After crossing the landmark, Prabhsimran continued to be severe on the rank full-length deliveries offered by the pacers, forging a quick-fire 76-run stand from just 45 balls with Ramandeep Singh to see the team across the line in 29 overs with eight wickets left.
Earlier, after putting Mumbai into bat on a misty morning, Arshdeep wrecked the top order with his ability to swing the ball both ways from length. The left-arm pacer set up openers Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Mhatre with the one moving away before trapping them in front with the ball coming in.
Hardik Tamore hit his first ball to point, where Ramandeep held on to a tough, low catch. The all-rounder then plucked another stunner, leaping to grasp a one-hander to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav for nought.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer looked fluent during his brief stay but Arshdeep ensured he was tested with some bouncers early. He eventually fell, inside-edging an attempted short-arm jab onto his stumps. The lanky pacer completed his fifer when he had Shivam Dube caught at slip with a length ball in the channel outside off.
Mumbai fought back after Arshdeep’s seven-over first spell. With the spinners in operation, Suryansh Shedge and Ankolekar steadied the innings. Suryansh punished the short balls, pulling them off the back foot, but fell trying to play the sweep, edging one to the keeper.
Ankolekar found another ally in Shardul Thakur and the duo sprayed the ball around the spread-out field to put up a 93-run stand. The pair fell to skipper Abhishek, trying to up the scoring rate, despite there being another ten overs left in the innings.
The last-wicket pair, Himanshu Singh and Royston Dias played some smart cricket, nudging the ball into gaps to combine for a 36-run partnership and propel the team to 248, which proved to be below-par.
